ARTICLES Archives - Page 120 of 312

The Driving Force

Installing a pond pump is a fairly simple process - and, as you'll see in the video linked below, represents one of my last big chances to sound off on the importance of basic pipe-connection skills. Yes, I'll admit that I'm a perfectionist and maybe a bit compulsive about making my pipe connections look right in addition to fitting right. In the operation covered here, however, there's good reason for care: If you're sloppy with glue application while installing a check valve, there's always the possibility that

Safe Lighting Around Pools

There's a common misperception among designers and builders whose projects carry them beyond a pool and spa and out into the landscape: In large numbers, these professionals believe that low-voltage landscape lighting systems are perfectly safe for use in close proximity to the water. The truth of the matter is that the National Electric Code (NEC) has defined an exclusionary zone of ten feet around pools and spas for these fixtures! That's right: Even with low-voltage

A Graveling Experience

As was mentioned a few episodes back, in designing this particular pond we settled on a filtration system that made the most sense for the setting and the situation - and now it's time to show you how we install its permanent gravel bed. As the video shows, it's a straightforward process of rinsing the material to get rid of as much dust as possible and doing what I can to cull any smaller-than-desired chunks of gravel that might

Test Your Knowledge #78

New Subspecies of Animal Found In Colombian Swimming Pool

The Preservation Arts

I've written quite a bit - and, I think, with passion - about the need to preserve and protect our cultural heritage as it relates to watershapes (click here, for one recent example). There are plenty of grand public pools, classic fountains and even some architecturally significant residential watershapes that

Nightmares Under Foot

In many parts of the country, it's not uncommon to encounter the unexpected when you start digging to make way for a swimming pool or some other watershape. There might be field stone, a rock ledge, a buried outcropping or even hardpan. Depending on the size, depth and extent of these stony intrusions, running into any of them can, as the video linked below suggests, take a homeowner's budget expectations and throw them right out the window. And it's not just rock that can be a hidden issue: Various types of soil can be problematic, as can the groundwater level in the

Ripples #89

Compiled and Written by Lenny Giteck New Study: Urinating in Pools Poses Serious Health Dangers

Ripples #88

Compiled and written by Lenny Giteck Two New Brouhahas About Proper Swimming Attire in Public Pools

#12: Equipment Room

For the most part, the equipment sets that power pool and spa systems are placed outdoors in spaces near their watershapes. Maybe that's behind a gate along the side of the house, or behind some shrubs or a wall in a corner of the yard. Wherever they go, these equipment clusters should be positioned so that the noise made by various motors and pumps isn't so pronounced that it

A Prairie Experience

It's been a number of years since I've managed to visit Chicago, but I want to get back sometime soon. After all, I have yet to see the Crown Fountain in person (let alone the rest of Millennium Park), and I haven't visited the Chicago Botanic Garden in more than 30 years! The last time I was in the Windy City with any time to spare, it was 2002 and I was attending